Burdens of Command
by Sandy Erickson
Summary: Rabb & MacKenzie help COL Barrett investigate assaults at Twenty Nine Palms Marine Corps Base


**"The Burdens of Command"**

**

by Sandy Erickson

**

  
  


The light from the television screen was the only light in the room as Colonel Blake Barrett sat at the kitchen table in his bachelor quarters, signing a pile of forms he had brought back from his office. Occasionally, he'd glance at the television, then return to signing his name on what seemed like a million different forms, all of which he had to read before he signed them. He sighed heavily out of boredom, but the ringing telephone startled him. 

"Barrett here." he answered.

"Sir, Lieutenant. Michaelson from security, sir," said the nervous, young military policeman.

"This better be good, Lieutenant," Barrett cautioned him gruffly.

"Yes, sir. Sorry to bother you, sir, but there's been an incident this evening on the base that I thought you should know about," the young man continued. Impatiently Barrett inquired,

" What kind of an incident, Lieutenant?" After a short pause, the MP replied,

"An attempted sexual assault, sir." The MP's words got COL Barrett's attention, because it raised potential safety issues for all his people on the base. He put down his pen and asked,

"When and where?"

"2010 hours tonight, sir. A block south of the Community Club," came the response.

"Who's the victim?" Barrett demanded.

"Lieutenant Moses, sir, from Logistics section," Michaelson responded promptly.

"Does she need medical attention?" he inquired with concern.

"We transported her to the Emergency Room immediately, sir. Major Whatley is examining her now, sir," came the young man's proud-sounding reply. Not being one for compliments, but feeling like he should commend the young MP for his presence of mind and handling of the situation, Barrett told him,

"Very good, Lieutenant Inform the Major that I'll be right down there to talk with him about the Lieutenant's condition."

"Yes, sir," he responded. Barrett hung up the phone receiver and swore to himself as he picked up his cap and left his quarters, heading to the waiting HMMWV outside in the parking lot.

*********************************

As he entered the Emergency Room at the base hospital through the automatic double doors, COL Barrett saw two MPs standing at attention near the admitting desk. He strode up to them and demanded,

"Which one of you is Michaelson?"

"I am, sir," replied the taller of the two men. 

"At ease, both of you! I'm here to ascertain the victim's condition. I hope you've got somebody securing the scene, Lieutenant," Barrett inquired, intending to further test the young security officer's knowledge of proper procedure,

"Yes, sir. I left one of my men there to preserve the crime scene, sir," Michaelson replied quickly.

"You've done well, Lieutenant," Barrett told the young man. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Major Whatley, the doctor on call at the facility, approaching them from down the hall. He stood before the Colonel and snapped to attention as he saluted. Barrett returned the salute and said,

"At ease, Major. My men tell me you're treating Lieutenant Moses?"

"Yes, sir," the Major replied.

"What is her condition, Major?" Barrett inquired in his usual blunt manner.

"Mentally, she's very shaken, sir. Physically, she's got mostly superficial bruises and some strained muscles," the young doctor responded. Barrett paused before he asked,

"The MPs informed me that the assault was only attempted. Is that correct, Major?"

"Yes, sir," he replied. Pausing for a moment to think about what to do next, Barrett then inquired of the major,

"Is she able to give a statement?"

"We can try, sir," came the response. Barrett responded quickly and firmly as he told the doctor,

"You do that, Major! I'll call in shortly to see if you were successful in obtaining one! And I want her admitted to the hospital if there's any doubt as to the severity of her physical injuries or her mental state! Is that clear?" The major saluted him again and replied,

"Yes, sir!"

"Very good, Major. Carry on," Barrett told him, as he turned to walk back out to his vehicle with the two nervous MPs following behind him.

*******************************

Three nights later, the shrill sound of the ringing telephone startled Colonel Barrett awake from a sound sleep. It took a few seconds for him to even gain enough presence of mind to reach for the phone, but by the time he did, he was already angry.

"What? Barrett here!" he barked. A tentative male voice replied,

"Sorry to wake you, sir. This is Lieutenant Michaelson from security again. I'm calling to inform you that there's been another sexual assault on the base, sir." His concern spiked again, Blake sat up in bed and asked,

"Tonight?"

"Yes, sir. At approximately 2315 hours outside one of the female barracks," the MP replied.

Blake turned on the lamp next to the bed and looked at his watch, then inquired, in his usual brusque tone,

"Was this another attempted assault, Lieutenant?" There was a long pause before the Lieutenant uncomfortably replied,

"No, sir. This one was more than an attempt-if you know what I mean." The young officer's words immediately told Blake that this was getting out of hand, since he now had an actual rape case on his hands. He threw off the covers and reached for his pants as he asked,

"Jesus Christ! Who's the victim this time?"

"Lieutenant Smith, sir, from Finance section. She's been taken to the base hospital ER, sir, and one of my men is securing the scene at this time," the young officer informed him. As he pulled on his uniform pants and began buttoning them up, he replied,

"Good work, Lieutenant What was Lieutenant Smith's condition when you last saw her?" 

"She was badly beaten, sir, and nearly hysterical when we arrived at the scene," was his matter-of-fact reply. Shaking his head in disgust and bewilderment, Blake took a deep breath and ordered,

"All right, Lieutenant. Make sure no one touches anything at that crime scene. I'm calling the local authorities now, so you and your men are to assist them in any way that you can when they arrive! Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" responded the officer. 

"Keep me posted, Lieutenant. After I call the police, I'm going down to the hospital," he informed the Lieutenant as he tucked in his t-shirt.

"Yes, sir!" came the reply.

"Very good. Carry on, Lieutenant!" he ordered as he broke the connection on that call and then dialed the number for the local police. After they answered, he continued,

"This is Colonel Barrett out at Twenty Nine Palms. We've had a rape occur on the base at 2315 hours. You need to send out a forensics team as soon as possible. The MPS will meet them at the gate to escort them to the scene." There was a long pause as he listened to the dispatcher whine for a minute about what time it was, then he lost his patience, exclaiming,

"Look! I know it's the middle of the night! When do you think these things happen-during normal business hours? Just get them out here-NOW!" Then he slammed down the receiver. As he buttoned his uniform shirt, he muttered to himself,

"God damn civil servants! Guess criminals are supposed to keep banker's hours for their convenience!" Picking up his cap, he left the apartment, again walking out into the night to his waiting HMMWV outside. As he started it up and drove toward the hospital, he thought to himself that he was probably in for another long night.

********************************

Again, entering the base hospital Emergency Room through the automatic doors, Colonel Barrett saw Major Whatley, the doctor who had cared for the first victim, standing by the Admissions Desk. Upon seeing the Colonel enter the facility, the major snapped to attention and saluted him.

"At ease, Major," Barrett told him, as he returned the salute. "What's the Lieutenant's condition?"

"She took a severe beating, sir," he commented and handed the Colonel a Polaroid photo of the young woman's face, showing a black eye, and several areas of swelling where she'd obviously been hit with a fist. Barrett cringed inside when he saw the extent of her injuries but showed no visible reaction as he calmly handed the photo back.

"As you can see, she's got a black eye, and we discovered she's also got a couple of cracked ribs. Lots of bumps and bruises, too, sir," continued the doctor. Feeling himself getting angrier about this situation by the minute, he inquired,

"I take it you've obtained all the normal and usual evidence for a case of this type, Major?"

"Yes, sir!" the doctor confirmed. After pausing to take a deep breath, Barrett asked,

"Is she able to give a statement?" The doctor shook his head and replied,

"Not at this time, sir. I had to sedate her. She'll be out until morning."

"All right, Major. As soon as she's up to it, she needs to give a statement to the MPs. Preserve all of the evidence here in this facility until I give further orders! It does not leave this premises! Is that clear?" the Colonel barked.

"Yes, sir. Totally, sir," responded the major nervously as he saluted again. Barrett returned the salute and said, as he turned to walk back out to his vehicle again,

"Carry on, Major." 

As he drove away into the night, he thought to himself that he was going to have to get some help investigating these incidents, because the forensic evidence alone put it beyond the scope of anything his security people could handle. Blake knew he was going to have to call the JAG office in Washington, even though it was against his inclination to do so, as he despised dealing with Washington on anything. Still, in this case, the safety of a lot of people depended on catching whomever was committing these crimes, and his concern for the people who lived and worked on the base won out over his hatred of Washington "pencil necks", as he called them. Since the locals wouldn't investigate the crimes, Blake knew it was his only choice.

*******************************

The next morning, as soon as he got settled in the office, he pushed the intercom button to the outside office. 

"Sergeant?" he inquired.

"Yes, sir!" came the response.

"Get the JAG office in Washington on the horn right away! Admiral Chegwidden."

"Right away, sir!" replied the sergeant. He paced the room for a few minutes, growing more impatient by the minute, when finally the intercom buzzed again.

"Yes, Sergeant?" he asked.

"Admiral Chegwidden on Line 2, sir," the young man informed him. 

"Thank You, Sergeant. Hold my calls until I'm done on this one!" he barked. Then he punched the line 2 button and began,

"Admiral Chegwidden? This is Colonel Blake Barrett out at Twenty Nine Palms. I've got a thorny problem on my hands and hope the hell you can help me..."

****************************

Harm was seated in front of the Admiral's desk, anxiously wondering what kind of case the Admiral was going to assign to him.

"Commander, I received a call from Colonel Barrett out at Twenty Nine Palms Marine Corps base in California this morning. I'm sure you remember Colonel Barrett from that helicopter crash investigation last year," the Admiral explained. As soon as Harm heard the name, he smiled a little, remembering the Colonel's brusque yet conscientious manner which he had experienced first hand while dealing with him on the helicopter crash investigation.

"Yes, sir. Colonel Barrett's a hard man to forget," Harm replied. Without comment, the Admiral continued,

"There have been two brutal sexual assaults on the Twenty Nine Palms base in the past 6 days. Both young, female officers on their way back to barracks after dark.."

"Sorry to hear that, sir. But why call us? Can't the local authorities handle the investigation?" Harm asked, puzzled. The Admiral rose from his chair and began walking around the room as he talked.

"That's the problem, Commander. When Colonel Barrett called the police, all they would do is gather physical evidence from the scene, which they turned over to him. They claim that since the incidents occurred on a military base that they have no authority to do the investigation." Harm shook his head and replied,

"Begging your pardon, sir, but that's baloney!"

"You and I know that, Commander, but unfortunately we'd have to take the matter to Court in order to force them to do the investigation, and that would be a waste of time and taxpayer's money," the admiral observed. 

"Yes, sir," Harm agreed.

"Colonel Barrett made it very clear to me that he was not happy about having to call us, but an investigation of this type is beyond the capability of the MPs and he knows it. He did, however, specifically request that if I was going to send anyone out that it be you, if you were available. I think that you must have impressed the Colonel with your investigation of that helicopter crash," he said.

"The Colonel is a very dedicated officer, Admiral, and we were able to provide him with the answers to why and how Captain Cray was killed. Nothing more, nothing less," Harm replied. Nodding the Admiral continued,

"Now, one of the problems the Colonel has run into is that the victims either can't or won't give complete statements about the incidents to the MPs. Apparently the mental state of both victims is precarious, and without more information, the investigation is at a standstill."

"That's understandable, sir, under the circumstances. If you're going to send me out there, it might be advisable if Major MacKenzie accompany me. She might be able to help with that," Harm suggested.

"Agreed. One word of caution, Commander. At this point we don't know if the assailant is military or civilian. If he turns out to be a civilian, then the entire investigation will have to be turned over to the local authorities once that is determined. If the suspect is military, then he'll need counsel which will need to be assigned directly from here. Is that clear?" the Admiral questioned.

"Yes, sir," Harm replied. The Admiral walked back around his desk, sat down again and said,

"Very good. Check with the lieutenant for your travel arrangements-after you talk with Major MacKenzie, of course. Dismissed." Harm raised his hand in salute, which the Admiral returned. Harm then turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once outside the door, he took a deep breath and immediately walked over to Sarah's office. As he came around the corner, he could see she had her desk full of open books, as she was apparently in the middle of a detailed research project. He could see she was rubbing her eyes and surmised she probably needed a break anyway, so he knocked on the door. 

"May I come in, Major?" he asked. She looked up at him, smiled a little and said,

"Enter at your own risk, Commander, but I'd welcome a distraction from this boring research. What's up?" Harm sat down in a nearby chair and began,

"Well, remember how you didn't get to go out to Twenty Nine Palms with me last year for that helicopter crash investigation?" Sarah nodded and replied,

"Yeah. I remember."

"Well, now's your chance, Major. I need your help on a case the Admiral's just assigned to me out there," Harm explained.

"Oh? What kind of a case is it?" she asked, her curiosity aroused. Harm sighed and replied,

"2 sexual assaults on the base in less than a week." Sarah looked surprised, then commented,

"Really! And the locals won't touch it with a 10-foot pole, right?" 

"You got it! The Base Commander, Colonel Barrett, has managed to get them to gather physical evidence and turn it over to him, but that's as far as they'll go," he explained. Sarah thought for a minute and asked,

"Who are the victims?"

"Two young officers. Both were attacked outside their barracks at night. The first one was only an attempt, but the second one wasn't so lucky. Guess he beat them both up pretty badly. If you could help with getting statements, for starters, that would be great. Apparently they've not divulged much to the MPs," Harm told Sarah. Sarah nodded and replied,

"Which is totally understandable, because all they have to talk to is men, and it was a man who attacked them." 

"That's what I thought," Harm somberly agreed. Sarah thought for a minute, smiled again and asked,

"When do we leave, Commander?" Harm smiled as he got up out of the chair and replied,

"I'll go check with the lieutenant right now." Then he paused and before he left the room, turned to her and said,

"Thanks for doing this, Major."

"You're welcome, Commander. Sounds like you need my help on this one!" she responded.

******************************* 

Less than 24 hours later, Commander Rabb and Major MacKenzie were seated in Colonel Barrett's office while the colonel paced the room like a caged animal.

"What details do you need from me, Commander?" inquired the Colonel. Harm reviewed the notes on the sheet in front of him and asked,

"Let's see. The assaults occurred on the 18th and 21st of this month. Is that correct, sir?"

"I believe so. Check with the MPs on that. They've got all the particulars," Blake replied.

"Sir, if I may ask," Sarah spoke up. "what is the status of the victims now?" Blake stopped pacing and sat down heavily in his chair again as he continued,

"Lieutenant Moses is on limited duty with the Logistics section due to her mental instability. Lieutenant Smith is still in the hospital. She suffered a nervous breakdown after the attack and is being treated for that as well as the cracked ribs and black eye the bastard gave her!" Blake then rose from his chair, walked around and sat down on the corner of his desk in front of Harm and said, sternly,

"I want to the two of you to understand something! This sleazeball has accosted two of my officers on this base right under my very nose! I don't like that! It makes me nervous as hell! If there's any way I can prevent it, there will be no more such incidents on this facility, and I will move heaven and earth to make sure that the women on this base don't have to fear for their safety while they live and work here! Do you understand where I'm coming from, Commander.? Major?" Sarah responded confidently,

"Perfectly, sir."

"Totally, sir. We'll do our best," Harm replied. Blake abruptly got up off the desk and strolled back to his chair as he replied,

"See that you do! Dismissed!" Harm and Sarah saluted the Colonel, who returned the salute, then he turned around to look out the window as they left the office. 

*******************************

After signing out a HMMWV from the motor pool, Harm and Sarah proceeded to the base hospital to evaluate the evidence and package it up for transportation to the lab in Washington on the next flight out, which was later that afternoon. They were met in the base hospital laboratory by Major Whatley, the base physician who had treated both assault victims. There were two small boxes on the immaculately clean, white countertop before them. After looking briefly into the boxes, Harm asked the doctor,

"What have we got here, Major?"

"One box of evidence from each incident, Cmdr. All physical evidence obtained by the police is in these boxes," he replied. Sarah spoke up,

"Major, when you say this is everything, I note that there should be semen swabs and slides from the 2nd victim which obviously aren't here." The Major nervously nodded his head and replied,

"Sorry, Major. You're right. Those are in the refrigerator." Harm gave Sarah a sideways, almost apologetic, glance as he continued,

"Not to harass you further, Major, but there also should have been photographs taken of both crime scenes as well as of the victims' injuries. Where are those?" Now embarrassed and a little annoyed, the doctor replied,

"Sorry, Commander. I'm a doctor, not a police officer. Anyway, I believe Colonel Barrett is in possession of all the photographs that were taken, sir." Harm smiled and replied,

"Very good, Major. Now, we need to make sure all the specimens for each victim get packed properly and on the afternoon plane back to Washington. If you can pack the refrigerated specimens, we'll take care of the rest." 

"Yes, sir. Right away," the Major compliantly replied. Sarah and Harm watched him leave the room, then Sarah spoke up, with a smirk on her face,

"Be nice, Commander. These people aren't used to handling evidence like this." Harm grinned back and responded,

"All right, Major. I'll turn off my sadistic sense of humor now. I'll handle packing up everything here if you want to run over to the Colonel's office and get the photos." Sarah picked up her hat and said, as she turned to leave.

"Right. Behave yourself while I'm gone, Commander!" Harm replied, with a grin.

"I'll be the perfect gentleman, Major-I promise!" She smiled and shook her head as she left the room, amused at his all-too-typical humorous answer. 

**********************************

Across the base, Sarah waited in Colonel Barrett's outer office area for the Colonel to finish a phone call. Momentarily, the intercom buzzed.

"Sergeant?" came Blake's voice over the speaker.

"Yes, sir," replied the young desk Sergeant.

"Send Major MacKenzie in please," he instructed. 

"Yes, sir," he answered back. To Sarah, he said, "You can go in now, ma'am." She smiled politely and responded,

"Thank you, sergeant." Sarah opened the door to the Colonel's office and entered the room, immediately providing a salute, which he returned from where he stood behind his desk.

"At ease. What do you need, Major?" Approaching the desk she stated,

"Sir, I came to get the photographs of the victims and the crime scenes. The hospital personnel said you had those in your possession." Without comment, Barrett pulled a key from his pocket, unlocked a drawer on his desk and pulled out two large, manila envelopes which he tossed on the desktop. 

"That's correct, Major. I retained them in my possession after the police released them to me," he responded. Picking them up off the desk, she responded,

"Thank you, sir. Commander Rabb is packing up the forensic evidence now at the hospital so it can get on the transport flight to Washington this afternoon." 

"Good. I hope those idiots at the hospital didn't lose any of it!" he said, disgustedly.

"We had to shepherd them through gathering it up, sir, but it seems to all be there," Sarah replied with some hesitation. The colonel shook his head and groused,

"Doctors! Education up the ying-yang and no god damn common sense!" 

"It is an unusual situation for them, sir," Sarah stated politely. Obviously not appeased by her remark, he retorted,

"It is for all of us, Major!" He then paused for a minute as his facial expression darkened and he sat down on the corner of his desk. Looking right at Sarah he inquired,

"Major, have you visited with the victims yet?" Sarah shook her head and replied,

"No sir, not yet." Obviously nervous, the colonel rose from his desk and began pacing around the room again as he talked.

"Major, not having been married myself, it's hard for me to comprehend what an attack like this can do to a victim's mental state. From what I understand, both Lieutenant Moses and Lieutenant Smith are having a difficult time coping. Lieutenant Smith had a nervous breakdown right after the attack occurred, and Lieutenant Moses can only handle 4 hours of duty a day or she goes off the deep end!"

"Yes, sir," Sarah replied.

"As Commander of this base," Blake continued, "I am ultimately responsible for the safety of all personnel while on the grounds of this facility. I broke that promise when these incidents occurred, so the least I can do is to make sure the victims get the help they need to work their way through the aftermath. I hope that while you're here, Major, you'll do what you can to get them pointed in the right direction in that regard because, frankly, I haven't a clue what to do for them." Pleasantly surprised at the colonel's eloquent and thoughtful statement, she reassured him, as she got up from her chair,

"Yes, sir. I'll certainly do that!" Then she saluted him again. 

"Very good, Major. Dismissed!" he told her as he returned the salute. Blake watched as Sarah left the room, and after the door closed, he sighed heavily and silently hoped that Sarah would keep her word to help the two women, because he felt powerless to do so.

*******************************

That night, while sound asleep in his room at the base guest house, Harm was abruptly awakened by someone pounding on his door, after which came the sound of the Colonel's all-too familiar voice,

"Commander Rabb! Get your lazy ass out of bed and open this door!" Quickly grabbing his pants off the foot of the bed, Harm pulled them on and stumbled his way to the door. As he pulled it open, he squinted at the bright light in the hallway and asked,

"Colonel? What time is it?"

"Never mind that, Commander! There's been another attack less than two blocks from here! This time he raped her and beat her until she was unconscious! Meet me downstairs!" The colonel ordered as he turned and walked back down the hall. Barely awake, Harm grabbed his shirt and put it on as he walked down the hall to Sarah's room and knocked on the door. After a minute the door opens and a very sleepy-looking Sarah asked,

"Harm, for God's sake! It's the middle of the night! What's wrong?" As he tucked his shirt in his pants he replied,

"I know it is, but the colonel just informed me there's been another attack only a couple blocks from here, and this time the victim was beaten until she was unconscious." 

"I'll be right there," she replied. 

"Yeah, well, hurry up! The hell with the hair and makeup. He's waiting downstairs!" Harm told her as he walked back to his room to get his shoes.

"Okay, okay. I'm hurrying!" Sarah responded as she closed her door.

**************************

Less than five minutes later, Harm and Sarah got into the Colonel's HMMWV in the parking lot as he told them,

"About time you old ladies get down here!" To the driver he ordered, " Let's go!" They drove through the night only a couple blocks when they came upon the flashing lights of the ambulance and the MP vehicles. The driver pulled over and stopped immediately behind the ambulance. The three of them got out, and Harm and Sarah followed the Colonel over to Lieutenant Michaelson, who promptly saluted them. After returning the salute, the Colonel asked Lieutenant Michaelson,

"Fill me, Lieutenant"

"Yes, sir. A sergeant from the motor pool found her on the way back to his barracks. She's been unconscious since he found her," the MP explained. Blake, Harm and Sarah watched as the Gurney with the unconscious woman was wheeled by them and taken to the rear of the ambulance.

"According to her I.D.," Michaelson continued, "she's..."

"Stevens. 1st Lieutenant Stevens," the colonel interrupted. "She worked on my staff until she transferred to Finance 3 months ago," Blake told them. "Have the police been notified, Lieutenant?" 

"Yes, sir," he replied. 

"Very good, Lieutenant Assist the police when they arrive and make sure the evidence they obtain is turned over to Commander Rabb and Major MacKenzie. Any questions?" Barrett asked. The young MP saluted and said,

"No sir!" 

"Carry on, Lieutenant," Barrett replied, returning the salute. Then turning to Harm and Sarah, he barked,

"I need to talk with you two for a minute over by my vehicle!" The three of them walked over to the HMMWV together, then the colonel paused before he began,

"As you can see, the situation is getting out of hand here! Each attack is becoming progressively more violent. The next time he could kill someone, Commander! I don't care what it takes, but I want this slimeball caught and soon! Is that clear to both of you?"

"Absolutely, sir. We'll stay and assist the forensics team if we can and receive the evidence from them," Harm replied, as he and Sarah saluted the Colonel again. Barrett returned the salute and got into his HMMWV.

"You do that, Cmdr! I'm going over to the hospital to talk to Doc Whatley. If the victim is up to giving a statement I'll send someone over here to get you, Major!"

"Very good, sir!" Sarah responded. They watched him drive away into the night, and Harm said, with a sigh,

"He's right, Major. Next time someone could be killed."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Sarah replied.

********************************

The next day, Sarah paid a visit to Lieutenant Stevens in her room at the base hospital to get her statement. She sat beside the bed on a chair taking notes as a tape recorder on the bedside table recorded the entire conversation. Sarah asked,

"Lieutenant, I understand this is difficult for you, but I need to get a description of your assailant so we can begin working on a sketch." A very bruised and swollen Lieutenant Stevens bravely replied,

"I understand, Major. He was tall, probably close to 6 feet, and he wore BDUs. He wasn't a heavy set man-about average build."

"Did you notice if was wearing any rank or insignia?" Sarah inquired. The Lieutenant thought for a minute and responded,

"Yes, he was. Enlisted rank, ma'am. I didn't notice any insignia." After continuing for a few minutes with further details about the suspect's appearance, Sarah shut off the tape recorder and said,

"Thank You, Lieutenant Is there anything else you'd like to add?" 

"Just catch the bastard so he can't do this to anyone else, Major!" The Lieutenant angrily replied. Sarah nodded and told her,

"We'll do our best, Lieutenant If you need anything, call me anytime."

"Thank You, Major," the Lieutenant responded, quietly. 

Sarah left the room feeling frustrated, wishing that they had more to go on in the investigation at this point, but without the DNA test results, they had very little. At least she had gotten a basic description out of Lieutenant Stevens so she could send it to Washington for the sketch artist to work up a basic composite, which could be further refined out here by a police artist. It was a place to start.

********************************

A few minutes later, Sarah strode into the makeshift office they had created in a conference room at Base Headquarters, tape recorder and briefcase in hand. Harm watched as she set both of them down on the table and sat heavily down in a chair across the table from him.

"Long morning, Major?" he asked, kindly. She nodded somberly and replied,

"Lieutenant Stevens gave a statement. I've got it all on tape. She was also able to give me a pretty good basic description that I can fax to Washington for the sketch artist to use for a composite."

"Well, that's someplace to start, anyway. So why the long face?" Sarah's face took on almost a dreamy look as she continued,

"You should have seen her, Harm. Her face was all swollen and bruised. She had huge bruises on her arms, and her hands shook the whole time." 

"Getting emotionally involved isn't going to help her, Major. It'll only cloud your judgment," Harm pointed out, gently. Sarah nodded and replied,

"I know. It's just..." Harm interjected, jokingly,

"I've got an idea. Anytime you feel yourself crossing over that line, just visualize the good colonel in your face yelling that you're being a whiner! That oughta straighten you right out!" Sarah smirked and replied,

"On that note, I think I'll go fax this description to Washington." Harm smiled and said,

"Atta, girl. I'll have the office staff start transcribing this tape, then we can review all the statements once that's been done."

****************************

After lunch, Harm and Sarah sat at the long conference table, each with copies of all three victims' statements. They were reading each one through and discussing them one by one. Sarah sighed and said,

"You know, one thing that bothers me is that Lts. Smith and Stevens both were able to give a description of their assailant, but Lieutenant Moses wasn't, and her assault was only attempted." 

"Maybe we need to talk to Moses again," Harm suggested. 

"I think I'd better, but I won't do it until after we get the sketch done. If she sees anything familiar about the sketch, it might shake her loose," Sarah observed. There was a knock on the door, and Harm yelled,

"Come in!" One of the sergeants from the outer office opened the door, saluted and said, as he held out several sheets of paper to them,

"Major, Commander. A fax just came in for the Major from Washington, sir." Harm and Sarah returned the salute, and Harm took the papers from the sergeant and told him,

"Very good, sergeant. Dismissed!" The young man hurried from the room and closed the door, while Harm glanced over the papers in his hand.

"It's the composite sketch. They sure got it done fast!" He handed the papers to Sarah, who looked at them and commented,

"They certainly did. I'll call the police and have the sketch artist meet me at the hospital so we can have Lieutenant Stevens enhance the sketch with further details. Oh, by the way, I assume the evidence from Stevens' attack got out on the transport this morning?" Sarah asked. Harm smirked and replied,

"Of course, Major. And before you ask-yes, I packed it up myself." Sarah smirked back and commented,

"Did I say anything about being concerned about that?"

"No, but you were going to. Just thought I'd save you the trouble. Anyway, hopefully we'll have some initial DNA test data back within the next 24 hours. I've got a feeling that the colonel's going to be wanting an update soon, and I was hoping we'd have more to tell him."

"We're doing our best, Commander. These things take time," Sarah responded.

"You know that and I know that, but all the colonel knows is that there's a maniac running around on his base, Major. He's not going to be happy if we don't have anything to tell him." Sarah sighed and went to the phone, saying,

"Then I'd better get the artist out here so we at least have a sketch to distribute. That should help."

"Let's hope so," Harm said, skeptically.

*************************

After Sarah left to go meet the sketch artist at the hospital, Harm was making up evidence files for each of the three assaults when a there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" he said, and as the door opened, he saw it was Colonel Barrett. Harm snapped to attention and rendered a salute, which was returned by Blake.

"At ease, Commander. I'm here to check on the progress of the investigation," Blake told him in a very stern tone of voice. 

"Sir, statements have been obtained from all 3 victims, and Major MacKenzie is over at the base hospital now with a police artist working on a composite sketch with Lieutenant Stevens. All physical evidence has been sent to Washington, and we expect initial DNA test results in the next 24 hours," Harm responded, trying to sound as positive as he could. Barrett shook his head in disgust and raised his voice, saying,

"24 hours? Jesus Christ, Commander! That's not good enough! I've got over 9,000 people on this base to protect and only 20 MPs to do it with! I'd say those odds are pretty stacked against me, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, sir! We're moving as fast as we can, but when you're dealing with DNA evidence, the tests can only be done so fast. As it is, I got permission from the Admiral to move our tests to the head of the line. With any luck, Major MacKenzie will have the composite done and ready to distribute yet this afternoon," Harm responded, hoping to appease him a little. Barrett stood, hands on his hips, glaring at Harm for a minute before he replied,

"You'd better hope this is your lucky afternoon and the Major gets that sketch completed, Commander, or I'll throw both your sorry butts back on the plane to Washington! I'll expect to see you in my office by 1700 hours." Harm saluted and said,

"Yes, sir!" Barrett returned the salute and left the room. After he closed the door, Harm breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like a tornado had just entered and left the room. He had to admit to himself that Colonel Barrett was one of the most dynamic, yet unusual, officers he'd ever worked with. Though he showed a gruff exterior to the public, Harm had the feeling that the colonel was like a mother bear protecting her cubs and was harboring great fear for the safety of the base personnel, whom he considered to be "his people". That would explain was why he was so insistent on news of progress in the investigation. Harm hoped that Sarah was getting somewhere with the sketch so the bear could be appeased with it until some of the other test results came in.

****************************

In Lieutenant Stevens' room at the base hospital, the police artist with her sketch pad sat on one side of the bed, while Sarah sat on the other, watching as Lieutenant Stevens added details about the assailant and the artist worked with her pencil. The artist held out the pad to the Lieutenant and asked,

"How's this?" Lieutenant Stevens studied it and replied,

"Close. A little more fullness in the lips, maybe." The artist began working again as Sarah asked,

"Can you put a BDU cap and shirt on him, too? It's okay if it's rough."

"No problem," replied the woman as she continued to work vigorously. After a minute, she held the pad up to the Lieutenant again, whose hands immediately began shaking when she looked at it. Sarah moved in closer and put her hand on the Lt's shoulder, asking,

"What is it, Lieutenant?" 

"That's him! That's the son-of-a-bitch!" Then the young woman began crying heavily. After putting her arm around the young woman, Sarah said to the artist,

"I think that'll be good enough for now. Thank You!" The artist put the pad on the bedside table, gathered up her belongings and left. Once the Lieutenant composed herself, Sarah picked up the drawing and left herself, hoping to get back to Post HQ with it soon enough so copies could be made and distribution started this afternoon. 

Upon arriving at Post HQ a few minutes later, she entered the conference room where they were working and saw Harm pacing the floor. Puzzled, she asked,

"What's the matter with you, Commander? You're pacing like a caged tiger." Harm breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she had the sketch pad and said,

"I take it you've got the composite?"

"Yeah. You still didn't answer my question!" Sarah insisted. Harm walked over to her and said, as he picked up his hat off the table,

"Look, the good colonel chewed my butt earlier and said that if we didn't have this over to his office by 1700 that he was going to send us back to Washington! It's 1645, so I think we'd better go over there-NOW!" Picking up her hat, Sarah replied,

"Why didn't you say so? Let's go!" They walked across the building to the Colonel's outer office, where the Sergeant on duty announced them on the intercom. Barrett told the sergeant to send them in. Harm opened the door for Sarah and they both stepped inside the office, immediately saluting the colonel, who returned the salute and said,

"At ease Commander, Major. I take it you've got something for me."

"Yes, sir. The sketch artist has come up with a composite drawing which has been confirmed by Lieutenant Smith and Lieutenant Stevens," Sarah replied, holding up the sketch pad. 

"Very good, Major. What do you need from me in order to get that distributed?" Barrett asked.

"Permission to reproduce them and some personnel to distribute them around the base, sir," Harm replied.

"Consider it done. I'll call the print shop and tell them to expedite the copies and assign a detail to take care of distribution," replied the Colonel in his usual cold manner. 

"Thank you, sir," Harm said, as he and Sarah saluted again and the Colonel saluted back, saying,

"Keep me informed, Commander, Major. Dismissed!" 

********************************

At 1930 hours, the phone rang in Harm's quarters. It was the sergeant from Colonel Barrett's office at Post Headquarters informing him that there was a fax for them that had just come in from Washington. He thanked the sergeant and hastily grabbed his cap as he picked up his room key. After locking his door, he strode down the hall to Sarah's room and knocked on the door. Momentarily, she opened it and asked, when she saw him standing there,

"Don't you ever get tired of working, Harm?"

"Occasionally, but I don't make a habit of it. Thought you'd like to know-there's a fax for us at Base HQ. It's probably the DNA tests. Wanna ride along, Major?" he asked her. She picked up her cap and her room key and shut the door as she replied,

"Let's go!"

Less than 5 minutes later they arrived at Base HQ and picked up the fax from the sergeant on duty. They made a photocopy of it so they each had one to look at, then closeted themselves in the conference room to begin reviewing the data. As Harm was reading through the final synopsis on the last page of the document, he pointed to the paper and exclaimed,

"Wait a minute! It says here that the DNA signature from the hair sample from the first attack doesn't match that of the samples from the 2nd and 3rd incidents. How can that be?" Sarah quickly replied,

"It looks like we're dealing with two different assailants here, Cmdr!" Harm rolled his eyes and continued,

"Wonderful! The colonel's going to love this! How the hell do I explain to him that instead of one maniac running around on his base he's got two? " Sarah sat silent for a minute, thinking. When she didn't respond, Harm asked,

"Major? Hello? Are you still with me?" 

"Yeah, sorry," she replied. "I was just thinking...Lieutenant Moses has never given a description of her attacker, right?" 

"Correct," Harm replied.

"Yet Smith and Stevens positively identified the sketch, right?" she continued.

"Yeah," Rabb replied impatiently. "Where is this going, Major?" Sarah picked up a copy of the composite off the table and replied, as she stood up,

"I'm not sure, but I think I need to show this sketch to Lieutenant Moses again." Harm looked out the window and said, getting up out of his chair,

"I'd better go with you. It's getting dark." Sarah motioned for him to stop and said,

"Commander, she's only liable to get more cagey if you come along. I can handle it."

"Major..." Harm scolded her.

"I'm a big girl, Commander. I can take care of myself. I'm a Marine, remember?" Sarah scolded back to him.

"Yeah, well, Marine or not-those other women probably thought the same thing," He continued. She turned to leave anyway and he stopped her, saying,

"Okay, okay. At least take the cell phone with you and call me when you leave Moses' barracks." Smirking, Sarah reached out and took the phone from him and replied,

"All right. Fair enough, Commander. I'll be back shortly." Harm watched her walk down the hall and out the front door, then he picked up the phone and dialed Colonel Barrett's office, hoping he was still there as he usually was until late every night.

"Barrett here," the colonel answered.

"Colonel? This is Cmdr. Rabb. I've got kind of an unusual request, sir. Would it be possible for one of the MPs to put a tail on Major MacKenzie? She's on her way to Lieutenant Moses' barracks and wouldn't let me go with her. I don't think it's a good idea for her to be out alone after dark," Harm told him. 

"You're right about that, Commander. I was just getting to ready to leave here, anyway. Meet me out front and we'll keep an eye on the Major ourselves," the colonel replied. 

"Thank you, colonel. I'll meet you out front," Rabb replied, gratefully. After hanging up the phone, Harm picked up his hat and ran out the front door, where the colonel was already waiting at the curb in his HMMWV. As they drove away, Barrett asked,

"Why is the Major going to see Lieutenant Moses, Commander?"

"Sir, the DNA tests showed that a different man attacked Lieutenant Moses than the other two women," Rabb told him, cautiously, hoping he wouldn't lose his temper.

"What? You mean I've got two psychos running around my base, Commander?" the colonel asked, sternly.

"It would seem so, sir," Harm replied. 

"Damn! This situation just keeps getting worse!" cursed the colonel. 

"Major MacKenzie's running on a hunch, Colonel. She's going to show Lieutenant Moses the sketch and see if it'll shake the truth out of her. It doesn't track that she's the only one of the three who couldn't describe her attacker, and her assault was only attempted," Harm explained.

"Let's hope she's successful, Commander, so we can finally clear up this whole, lousy mess once and for all!" Barrett replied.

"I hope so too, sir," Harm replied, sighing to himself.

*******************************

Sarah parked the HMMWV out in front of Lieutenant Moses' barracks and walked upstairs to the 2nd floor. After finding the right room number, she knocked on the door. 

"Who is it?" a voice asked from within.

"Major MacKenzie to see Lieutenant Moses!" Sarah called back. She heard the door latch click as the door was opened, and Lieutenant Moses, still in uniform, rendered Sarah a salute, which she promptly returned.

"At ease, Lieutenant May I come in?" Sarah asked. 

"Yes, ma'am," the Lieutenant replied quietly. Once inside the room, the Lieutenant quietly shut the door and asked,

"What can I do for you, Major?" Sarah pulled the sketch out of her pocket and unfolded it as she said,

"I know you've had difficulty giving us a description of the man who attacked you, Lieutenant We've got a composite sketch now that's been confirmed by both of the other women who were attacked. I brought it over so you could take a look at it." Sarah handed the young woman the drawing and she took it from Sarah with a shaking hand. Once she opened it up and looked at it, she closed her eyes, sat down on the bed and said, under her breath,

"Oh no! My God...Mike!" Sarah promptly asked,

"If you know this individual, Lieutenant, you need to tell us who he is so we can arrest him before he attacks anyone else. Do you understand?" The Lieutenant handed the sketch back to Sarah and said,

"SFC Mike Walters. Motor pool." Sarah wrote down the name and then said,

"Thank You, Lieutenant Now do you want to tell me who it was that attacked you? We know it was not this man-it was somebody else," Sarah told her. The young woman looked down at the floor for a minute and Sarah asked,

"Lieutenant, why are you protecting him? Look what he did to you!" As the Lieutenant looked up again, staring across the room and not looking at Sarah directly, she had tears running down her cheeks.

"It was my former boyfriend, Billy Dixon, Major. We broke up about 6 weeks ago." Sarah pulled the chair out from the desk, sat down and asked,

"So why did he attack you, Lieutenant?" Reluctantly, the young woman continued with her story.

"I got careless and ended up pregnant about 2 months ago, so I went and had an abortion. Billy found out about it and went crazy. I was afraid of him, so I told him that I was leaving, but he told me if I didn't stay with him he'd tell my CO about the baby and I'd get kicked out of the Corps. I took a chance and left anyway and didn't hear anymore from him until that night when he grabbed me outside of the barracks. Mike Walters was there, too-he's a friend of Billy's. That's how I met him. Anyway, between the two of them, they beat me up. Mike was going to ...carry it further, too, but Billy talked him out of it, Thank God." Sarah handed the young woman a box of tissues, and she pulled one out of the box and began wiping her eyes as she continued,

"Major, you've got to believe me. I had no idea until you showed me that sketch that it was Mike who attacked those other women!" Avoiding having to answer the question directly, because she didn't dare to, Sarah stood up and said,

"Lieutenant, by telling me the truth you've saved a lot of other women from being hurt by this man. I'm glad you finally leveled with me." 

"Yes, Major. Suppose they'll court martial me now, though," the young woman said sadly. Sarah patted her on the shoulder and said,

"Let's not worry about that right now. Will you be okay?" 

"Yes, Ma'am. Just go out there and catch him before he hurts someone else!" the Lieutenant replied. Sarah nodded and walked out the door, closing it behind her. Breathing a sigh of relief, she walked down the hall and down the stairs to the front door. From their vantage point in the dark nearby, Harm and Barrett watched from the HMMWV as Sarah emerged from the building and began descending the stairs.

"There she is," Harm commented. She descended the stairs, and as she reached the bottom, a shadowy figure jumped out of the bushes next to the stairs and grabbed Sarah around the neck. Barrett put the HMMWV in gear and exclaimed,

"That Son-of-a-bitch! Hang on, Commander!" Barrett drove the vehicle over the curb and across the grass at high speed toward where Sarah and her attacker were struggling. Then both men watched as Sarah flipped the man over her shoulder and watched him hit the ground hard a few feet away. He got up a second time, but Sarah rendered a couple more well-placed kicks, and he was down on the ground again, this time not moving or even threatening to get up. Harm breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the man hit the ground, and Colonel Barrett pulled the vehicle to a stop only a few feet away from where the suspect lay on the ground, curled up in a ball and writhing in pain. Harm and Barrett got out of the HMMWV, and Harm ran to Sarah who was standing nearby, massaging her shoulder.

"Are you all right?" Harm asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Commander. Think I might have wrenched my shoulder, though. He was heavier than I thought!" Sarah told him as she continued to rub her shoulder joint. Colonel Barrett walked up to the suspect on the ground, briefly looked at him with an expression of disgust on his face, then turned toward Sarah and said, in his usual gruff tone,

"Damn! Remind me never to walk up behind you in a dark Alley, Major! I see you remembered your hand-to-hand combat training!"

"Yes, sir. It's like riding a bicycle, sir-you never forget how!" 

"Once a Marine, always a Marine, Major, whether you're out in the trenches or pushing pencils in Washington!" Barrett told her. At that moment, two HMMWVs loaded with MPS came at rapid speed down the street, and the Colonel explained,

"I took the liberty of calling security before I left my office, Commander. I had a feeling with might need them!" 

"Good idea, sir. Looks like you were right!" Harm agreed. Colonel Barrett barked out orders to the MPS,

"Take this man into custody and throw him in the brig, Lieutenant!" Two of the officers pulled the suspect to his feet and walked him off toward their vehicles.

"Yes, sir!" replied Lieutenant Michaelson. Barrett watched until the MPs drove away, then strode up to Sarah and asked,

"So what did you find out from Lieutenant Moses, Major?" Sarah related the story to both men, then the Colonel cursed,

"Sadistic son-of-a-bitch! I'm glad we finally caught him! That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for your fine work on this investigation Commander, Major. I'll be passing my highest recommendations on to the Admiral for a job well done!"

"Thank you, Sir," Harm replied, gratefully. To Sarah, he said,

"Come on, Major. I think you'd better get that shoulder looked at. Doc Whatley needs something to do anyway now that he doesn't have any more assault cases to handle. Let's go!" Barrett told them as he strode toward the waiting HMMWV. All three of them got in the vehicle, and Barrett started the engine.

"You know, you two are all right in my book!" He told Harm and Sarah, who looked at each other with slight smiles on their faces.

"Thank you, Sir. We'll take that as a compliment!" Harm replied, brazenly. 

"You'd better, Commander, because that's exactly what it is, and I don't give those out easily!" The Colonel replied. As they began driving down the road into the night, Harm noticed a slight smile on the Colonel's face as he said, 

"Just don't spread it around, though. It could ruin my reputation as a mean, hard-ass Marine!" Harm nodded and replied, trying not to smile himself, while Sarah smiled widely in the seat behind him,

"Understood, sir!"

**THE END**


End file.
